Rear-Drive Debate at Pontiac and Chevy

Gas prices, efficiency demands, and the need for product differentiation complicate decisions such as making Pontiac exclusively rear drive. Meanwhile, Chevy expects the Malibu to outsell the Impala.

ALISA PRIDDLE

Mar 31, 2008

Pontiac might not be exclusively rear-wheel drive, but increasingly, new products will channel power rearward as a means to differentiate the performance brand, says Jim Bunnell, general manager of Buick, Pontiac, and GMC.

That makes Pontiac an ideal candidate to receive a car from General Motors’ new compact rear-wheel-drive architecture known as Alpha. GM is expected to make small sporty sedans from Alpha at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant starting in 2011. We’re expecting Cadillac and Pontiac to be the first to get products, with a little something saved for Buick.

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In an interview with Car and Driver, Bunnell doesn’t confirm future product plans but does say a Pontiac from Alpha is a better solution than bringing back another Pontiac GTO or resurrecting the Firebird, given today’s gasoline prices and the need to prepare for more stringent CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) requirements in the future.

Nor does Bunnell say if the next generation of the Pontiac G6 would move to the Alpha architecture. But he does say there will not be a front-drive G6 as well as an Alpha-architecture Pontiac in the lineup.

G6 Face Lift Coming

The decision as to which way to go will be made in the next six or so months, he says. And the current front-drive G6 will get a face lift early next year to keep it fresh in the interim, Bunnell tells us.

GM execs see 2008 as the year of Pontiac, with a new Vibe going on sale, all the buzz from the new G8 full-size rear-wheel-drive sedan, and the 2010 G8 sport truck that harks back to the Chevy El Camino.

The brand continues to “firm up,” says Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice-president of North American sales and marketing. “As we’ve narrowed the lineup and gotten rid of things like the Aztec and the vans, and stuff we shouldn’t have had anyway in a performance brand like Pontiac, we’ve seen sales stabilize.”

LaNeve says Pontiac is working to hone its DNA as affordable performance, and that includes studying whether all its cars must be rear drive. “We’re still looking at that,” he says in an interview. “It would be a huge differentiator to have Pontiac rear drive as opposed to Chevy and Saturn.”

But Pontiac won’t offer rear-wheel drive if it compromises affordability. If the price points really go up based on our global architectures, then LaNeve says he questions whether the brand must be exclusively rear drive. It may still prove to be the case, but the marketing chief says he’s not yet ready to make that call. For now, “we’re looking at all alternatives off both our rear-drive and front-wheel-drive architectures.”

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Room for Malibu and Impala as Front-Wheel-Drivers?

Chevrolet is undergoing similar angst as CAFE has forced GM to abandon plans to make the next-generation Impala rear drive to better differentiate it from the front-drive Malibu.

Even as a front-driver, LaNeve says there is a market for the Malibu to compete squarely against the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and Nissan Altima, and that there is also space for a larger car—the Impala—to butt heads with the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.

“So we’re clearly going to have two entries and are hoping to do close to 500,000 [units per year] between the two of them,” LaNeve says, noting gasoline prices could make consumers prefer a front-wheel-drive Impala. Both sedans also will be available with both V-6s and four-cylinders, the latter albeit in small volumes for the Impala.

LaNeve says GM needs to determine weight and performance parameters before making a final call on turbocharging the fours, but he acknowledges the Impala would need upgraded technology to distinguish itself from the Malibu.

Malibu to Become Bigger Seller

The mix between the two sedans also is expected to change, LaNeve says. GM used to sell a lot more Impalas, but going forward that will be reversed. The plan is to give the Impala a more premium slot in the market and position the Malibu as the volume vehicle that also appeals to the commercial market.

LaNeve says he thinks Chevy could sell 300,000 Malibus and 200,000 Impalas a year. He predicts they will be well on their way by the end of 2008 with combined sales of 420,000 units, split roughly half and half.